Everything You Wanted
by StarryKnight46
Summary: Abby's got something on her mind that won't leave her alone. McGee is convinced that the prime suspect is innocent. And this case is going to stump the whole team. McAbby, with a case thrown in for good measure. Read and review, please!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Ziva strolled into Abby's lab, carrying a box of evidence the team had just gathered from a crime scene. She was surprised to find Abby asleep on the lab table, despite the three Caf-Pows that lay empty next to her.

"Abby," Ziva said softly, attempting to wake her as gently as possible.

"Mmmph…" Abby groaned, opening her eyes slightly. They focused on Ziva's concerned face. "Morning, Ziva," she sighed.

"Abby, it is two in the afternoon," Ziva informed her. It was not like Abby to be so tired. Abby yawned, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and lifted the box from Ziva's arms. Ziva noticed huge dark circles under Abby's eyes, and no presence of makeup.

"Did you get _any_ sleep last night?" she asked, worrying. Something was definitely up with her friend.

"Enough," Abby said lightly, sifting through the artifacts taken from the scene.

"Abby, ignore the evidence for a moment. What is wrong?"

"Gibbs will want this processed as soon as-"

"Gibbs will understand," Ziva said, hastily cutting her off. "What is wrong? You are not yourself today."

Abby sighed. "It's stupid, really. Just a little thing. Thanks for your concern, though." She smiled warmly at Ziva and began dusting things for fingerprints. Ziva took this as her cue to go. She laid a hand on Abby's shoulder for a moment, then turned to leave for the bullpen.

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**Review, please! :D  
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	2. What's Up With Abby?

**Chapter 1 - What's Up With Abby?**

Tony was bored. He had finished everything Gibbs had told him to do in record time, and didn't really feel like irritating McGee for once. Gibbs was in MTAC with Jenny, Ziva was delivering evidence to the forensics lab, and Ducky and Palmer were most likely poring over their murdered Marine down in Autopsy.

Argh! Being bored was such a frustrating emotion. Even procrastinating wasn't very much fun when he'd already done everything he needed to do.

Tony got up and decided to go visit Abby in the forensics lab. Maybe he could help her process evidence, or at least she could entertain him while she did so. He was halfway down the hall on his way to the lab when he ran into Ziva. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she was biting her lip, deep in thought.

"Ziva! What's up?" he asked his partner. Ziva wasn't really the worrisome type, and there hadn't been anything too foreboding in the evidence box.

"Are you going to visit Abby?" she asked. Tony nodded.

"Will you try to figure out what is on her mind? She insists it is nothing, but there is something, I know it. I found her _asleep_. After _three_ Caf-Pows." Tony let out a long, low whistle. "Exactly," Ziva continued. "She looks like she has not properly rested in days. Maybe she will talk to you about it." With that, Ziva left to go find Gibbs to get an assignment.

Tony strolled into the lab. Abby was focusing intently on the fingerprint scans she was performing on the miscellaneous stuff collected from their crime scene.

"Hi, Tony," she said, without looking up. "And before you ask, I've just started, so I don't have anything yet."

"I wasn't going to ask that," Tony said. Abby looked up, brows knit in confused.

"Oh?"

"Nope."

"So then… what's up?" Abby asked. Tony hesitated before answering.

"Just bored. Wanted to see if there was anything I can do. Thought I'd keep you company." _Well, it's not a complete lie,_ Tony thought to himself.

"Yeah, actually, Ducky found this substance," Abby held up a tiny phial containing a greenish liquid, "inside the victim's mouth. I need you to pour it into this machine here," she indicated a metallic device next to her, "press the button, and write down exactly what it says." She handed Tony the phial.

He looked down at the little phial. Abby _never_ trusted other people to help her with forensics. She always preferred to work alone. Something was definitely up. Shrugging slightly, he did exactly what he was told.

"Hey, Abs, what's up?" He felt a little out of place; he and Abby were good friends, but he felt nosy.

"I'm processing forensic evidence, it's my job, Tony," Abby answered without looking at him.

"That's not what I meant," Tony said warily.

"My god, why does _everyone_ think there's something up with me today?" Abby burst out in frustration. "There is _nothing wrong_. Thanks for your help, Tony, really, but I think I can handle this from here." Abby turned away, and Tony turned to go, but not before he heard an unmistakable sniff.

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**Review, please! :D**


	3. Nothing Like A Fatherly Daughterly Chat

**Chapter 3 - Nothing Like A Fatherly-Daughterly Chat**

Gibbs walked down the staircase from MTAC and into the bullpen. "Tell me what you've got," he demanded.

"Petty Officer Bryant Hadlund was found dead on the side of the road eighteen miles outside Washington DC with two bullet holes in his chest. Bullets are nowhere to be found inside the body but there are no exit wounds, meaning whoever shot the gun took the time to remove the bullets," Tony repeated, though he was pretty sure Ducky had told Gibbs the same thing.

"I ran the petty officer's phone records, no calls within the last five days to his cell phone, I'm running home records and e-mails now," McGee said while typing away.

"I've made an appointment to speak to his wife Lauren later today," Ziva finished. "They're estranged, but not divorced."

"Tony, find as many people as you can that might have had a grudge against Hadlund," Gibbs barked. "Good job, the rest of you."

"On it, Boss," Tony said.

Gibbs turned to leave for Abby's lab. Upon arriving, he found her so focused on testing that she didn't notice him even when he'd been standing behind her with a Caf-Pow in each of his hands. He also noticed the streaks of mascara that had bled down her cheeks.

"Got anything, Abs?" Gibbs asked. Abby jumped about a foot in the air.

"No, not yet, I'm still testing," Abby said. She sounded choked up, and she wiped her face on her sleeve. Gibbs handed her one of the Caf-Pows and set the other one on her desk. She sipped the drink was if trying to draw all the comfort she could out of the straw.

"What's on your mind?" Gibbs asked her gently. She sighed.

"Nothing… it's nothing. Just some personal issues. You wouldn't approve, anyway," she babbled, sipping the Caf-Pow.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well I can't tell you, Gibbs! It goes against… well, it goes against rule number 12," Abby blurted. Then her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Gibbs sighed. "What's the whole problem, Abby?"

"Well… it's McGee. Which is wrong on so many levels, I mean, he's my _best friend_ for one thing, but then there's the fact that he's also my coworker, which you don't approve of, and I really shouldn't be feeling this strongly for my best friend anyway, what if it turns out badly? And I can't talk to him about it, which sucks because he _is_ my best friend after all, and I can tell him anything except this because as far as I can tell he thinks of me as his best friend, which I am, but I want to be more and I don't know if he wants to too, and… oh, Gibbs, this is so messed up," Abby gushed, tears leaking out of her eyes again. Gibbs sighed, smiled, and gave Abby a fatherly hug.

"In you case, Abby, I might be able to bend rule number 12," he said softly. Abby swallowed and looked up at him.

"Really?"

"Sure. McGee spends half his office time in here anyway, and he gets his work done fine."

"You're the best, Gibbs," Abby smiled, giving him one of her bone-crushing hugs. "But I still don't know if he feels the same."

"That, I'm going to leave you to work out on your own," Gibbs winked at Abby, smiled, and left the lab.

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**Well now we know what's on Abby's mind...  
**

**Reviews equal Love!  
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	4. Just Friends

**Chapter 4 - Just Friends**

Abby smiled to herself. Well, that was one less thing she had to worry about. She happily sipped one of the Caf-Pows Gibbs had brought her, more able to concentrate on her work now. She'd identified the greenish liquid Tony had tested as a mixture of Bryant Hadlund's saliva, ammonia, and sodium hypochlorate - poison. According to Ziva's background on the wife, Lauren was a scientist with access to both chemicals. She'd also lifted Lauren's fingerprints from around the bullet holes in the petty officer's sweatshirt. She was running blood tests when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Hey, Gibbs, I actually have something for you this time," Abby said brightly, knowing it was him without having to look. She was therefore surprised when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and McGee's voice said, "Good afternoon, Abby!"

Abby whirled around and swallowed. "McGee! I thought you were Gibbs," she laughed. Dang it, why was it so easy to act natural around McGee? She'd spent hours of her thoughts on him in the past week, and she was still able to act like nothing was up.

"Nope, just came to check up on you. Tony said you seemed a little out of it so I thought I'd come cheer you up," he said.

"Nah, I was just tired and touchy and didn't get a ton of sleep last night," Abby said.

McGee shrugged. "How's our case turning out?"

"The wife's fingerprints were all over our petty officer's sweatshirt, and he was also poisoned with a mixture of sodium hypochlorate and ammonia. Not uncommon chemicals, but the wife's a scientist, so she had easy access," Abby rattled off.

"Mrs. Hadlund has some serious explaining to do, let's just hope she can do it," McGee said. "She's in questioning right now, I can bring Gibbs this information. Thanks, Abs!" McGee took the file with her findings in it, kissed Abby's cheek in thanks like he usually did, and left. Abby watched him go and sighed slightly.

_There he goes. And I still can't tell him anything._

The place where his lips had touched her was burning. She stroked her cheek slightly, sighed again, then turned back to her work.


	5. Interrogation and Flashbacks

**Chapter 5 - Interrogation and Flashbacks**

McGee carried Abby's files down to Interrogation, where Lauren Hadlund sat, staring stonily at Gibbs, who was Gibbs-staring at her. The blond woman's gaze never left Gibbs'.Tony and Ziva were watching, impressed.

"This woman is the most stubborn person Gibbs has ever questioned, I'm pretty sure," Tony grinned. "All she's said is 'I didn't do it,' and they've been staring at each other for an hour. Gibbs has stared, yelled, threatened, everything, and the woman just stares right back at him. It's crazy."

McGee raised his eyebrows. Gibbs was one of the scariest SOB's to walk the face of the earth, so this lady must be tougher than steel. He entered the room.

"Toxicology reports back, boss," he said, then turned to address Mrs. Hadlund. "Your fingerprints were found around the bullet holes in Petty Officer Hadlund's sweatshirt. There were also traces of chemical poison in his mouth, and as you are a chemist, this puts you at easy access to both counterparts."

"No."

The word hit McGee like icicles. Damn it, no wonder Gibbs hadn't cracked her yet! She had the coldest, surest voice McGee had ever heard, but the emotion poured into it was what hit him hardest. There was hurt, disbelief, fear, and predominantly, determination.

McGee raised his eyebrows again. He shot a glance at Gibbs; the man had never looked angrier. He couldn't crack this woman, and he'd been trying for ages. McGee coughed. Gibbs spoke harshly.

"McGee, take over Investigation. I need coffee." With that, he left. McGee prayed silently that no innocent bystanders would suffer Gibbs' frustration. He turned to face the woman. She cocked one eyebrow, as if daring him to speak.

"Uhm… okay. Can you attest to your whereabouts on the night of your husband's death between the hours of twenty-one-thirty and oh-one-thirty-five?"

"I-" she started, then took a deep breath. "You have to believe me, I am not making this up." Her diamond-hard façade slipped for a moment as she looked imploringly into McGee's eyes. He nodded. "I was… with my husband. I know how bad it looks, but I swear I didn't kill him." Her eyes began to water. "We were estranged. Had been for three years. He contacted me for the first time in twenty-eight months, asking to get together and talk."

"If you don't mind my asking, why were you estranged, Mrs. Hadlund?"

"Please, call me Lauren. And, I was the one who left. I needed time off to… to think."

"To _think_," McGee repeated. He bit his lip.

_He watched her stand there, not believing his ears._

"_What?" he asked her incredulously._

"_Tim, please, don't be angry," she had pleaded, her gorgeous green eyes watering. "This isn't your fault, it's me."_

"_Then let me help you," he'd begged. Disbelief pounded his senses._

"_That's exactly it," she'd sighed. "I love you too much to be with you. We can't be together. _I just need to… take some time off. To… to think…_" she struggled to find the words. _

"_Abby, wait…" he'd trailed off. It was too late. She was gone.

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**I enjoy writing flashbacks.  
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**Review please!  
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	6. Who Is Lucy James?

**Chapter 6 - Who Is Lucy James?  
**

McGee shook the painful memory from his brain. He focused again on the petty officer's wife.

"So you left him, and he was interested in getting back together," McGee repeated. She nodded, her strong green eyes not wavering from his own.

"Go on."

"But then I received a letter from another petty officer named Lucy James. She introduced herself as Bryant's girlfriend, that she hadn't known he was married, and she wanted to talk to me."

McGee sighed and jotted this down. Why did every murdered husband case have to involve a jealous affair?

"Do you still have the letter?" he asked.

"Yes, it's in my bedside table drawer," Lauren said, confused slightly. McGee motioned to where he knew Tony and Ziva were, behind the one way mirror, to go find the letter.

"Thank you Mrs. - I mean, Lauren. But the court won't let you off on this. You admit to being with your husband the night he died, and you admit that your husband was seeing another woman behind your back. That provides both motive and opportunity."

He watched Lauren's features go stony again. "I didn't kill him, _Agent McGee,_" she spat, venom dripping from his name as it left her mouth. McGee's eyes widened.

"I didn't say you did. I'm merely stating that the judge most likely won't believe you. But I… I do," he said, catching her gaze. "I do believe you."

"Thank you, Agent McGee," she said, relaxing visibly.

"It's Tim," he said, smiling.

"Then thank you, Tim," she replied. "I'm positive I'm being framed. I just don't know how to prove it. Can you help me?"

"We're doing all we can. But for now, you're the only suspect we have," McGee said warily. "And I do have more questions for you."

"Shoot."

"You say you were with your husband when he died. What did you see?"

"Not much. I met him in a café at about twenty-one-hundred hours. We talked. I told him I had met with his girlfriend earlier, and that she seemed like a nice woman. He looked at me kind of funny, and was about to say something, when a bullet came out of nowhere and landed in the ground by my foot. Bryant located the direction the bullet came from and…" Here, Lauren's voice caught. "He stepped in front of two more bullets. The gunman stopped firing. He told me… he loved me. That he had loved me even in the years we'd been apart. And then… he died…in my arms…" Tears began to course down her cheeks. "I called out into the darkness. Then, something must have hit my head and I blanked out."

_Damn it_, thought McGee. _Any bruising will have gone away by now. She has no proof of that theory, nothing to back that up. _

He told her his thoughts. She began to cry harder.

The door opened and Gibbs walked back in, holding his cup of coffee. He glanced a few times from McGee to the sobbing woman, then back again, then whispered, "Thanks, McGee."

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**The plot thickens! By the way, I did notice my error in chapter numbers, but I'm to lazy to fix it. Yay! Anyway, reviews make my life, hint hint.  
**


	7. It Was The Eyes

It had taken McGee over four hours to calm Lauren Hadlund down. Gibbs had had him and Ziva take her home while he and Tony went to talk to Lucy James. McGee had sat next to the woman in her living room, gently rubbing her back, while Ziva searched the house for anything that may have connected Lauren to the crime. McGee had tried to stop her, given that the suspect was present and in a fragile state of mind, but Ziva had shook her head and mouthed 'procedure' at him. He knew she was right, but he didn't want to stress out Lauren any more than was necessary.

Ziva finished, shot a final glance at McGee, then left him alone with Lauren.

She shook her blonde hair out of her face and wiped her eyes, her breathing slowing somewhat. Her green eyes met Tim's- and they were so familiar, so achingly familiar…

"_Abby, don't cry…" He enveloped the sobbing woman in his arms. "That jerk wasn't worth it, honestly."_

"_But I loved him, Tim!" Her pleading, bright green eyes met his. "It least, I thought I did… and then he dumped me!"_

_He bit his tongue to keep from telling her that he knew he'd be able to treat her better than anyone else, love her more than anyone else… but now was not the right time. And he wasn't sure it would ever be._

McGee couldn't help himself. In later moments, he would tell himself that it was the eyes that got to him. But he leaned forward and planted a kiss on Lauren's cheek. She smiled slightly, and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

"Thanks for doing this," she said, sighing. "I know all odds are against me, but it's nice to know that someone believes me."

"We're going to get you out of this," McGee promised.

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**Whee, short chapter. Review please! **


	8. Yay For BFF Bonding Tiem

**'Sup, guys! I'm finally finding time to write again, since it's FINALS WEEK OMG and I HAVE NO FINALS OMG.  
On with the story!**

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Ziva had gone back to the office with the note from Lucy James. She had just dropped her things off in the bullpen when Tony walked out of the elevator.

"Petty Officer James is in Interrogation, Zee-vah. Boss wants the letter."

"Gibbs' perfect timing, as usual," Ziva smiled, handing over the letter, which was in a plastic bag. Tony's fingertips brushed hers; her breath hitched for a moment. Tony noticed nothing. He took the letter and went back down the stairs. Ziva sighed.

The phone on her desk began to ring. "Officer David," she answered.

"Ziva, can you come up here? Please? If you've got a few minutes?" came Abby's pleading voice.

"I will be right up," Ziva said.

When she got to the lab, she noticed that Abby wasn't anywhere to be found. Ziva looked around; she wasn't by the computer, in her office, poring over any machines…

"Hi," came Abby's voice timidly. Ziva glanced into the office again, and noticed that her friend's black boots poked out from underneath her desk. Ziva walked in, concerned. Abby was hiding beneath the desk, holding Bert and sipping a Caf-Pow.

"What is wrong?"

"Everything. My love life," Abby sighed.

"McGee?"

Abby nodded. She didn't even both to ask how Ziva knew, she just figured that Ziva was perceptive enough to be able to figure these things out on her own.

"What do you plan on doing?" Ziva asked. Abby smiled; this was exactly why she needed Ziva. She didn't want sympathy or consolation, she wanted to make plans.

"I _plan_ on remaining his best friend. I _plan_ on not getting jealous every time he has a new girlfriend. But I don't know if I can bring myself to follow through with these _plans_."

Ziva sighed. Typical Abby.

"Do you know if he feels the same way?" Abby asked. Her eyes said, _Tell the truth_.

Ziva chose her words carefully. She had seen the way McGee had looked at Lauren. She had seen the tender way he held and comforted her, seen the light kiss he had placed on her cheek. Seen the way she smiled back.

"I do not know for sure," Ziva decided to say. It was the truth, to a certain extent; she had no way of knowing McGee didn't return Abby's feelings.

Abby groaned and buried her head in her knees. "This is all my fault," she said to the black fabric. "I dumped him, I was stupid enough to let him go-"

"Abby, stop it," Ziva barked, causing Abby to jump and hit her head on the top of the desk. "There is no point in dwelling on what has already happened."

"But I probably ruined it!" Abby said with a sniff.

Ziva sighed. "You haven't ruined anything, he is still your best friend and he still trusts you more than you think."

Before Abby could respond, Tony came skipping into the lab.

"Oh, _Zee_-vah," he sang, "Come join McGee and I in Interrogation. You will not _believe_ what's happe- oh, hi, Abby."

Abby smiled at Ziva. "Let the little boy have his fun. I've got forensics to do!" With that, she barrel-rolled out from under the desk, placed Bert back on top of the fridge, and shooed Ziva and Tony off to Interrogation.

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**Reviews are like cupcakes. :)  
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	9. Jeez, Tim, Is That The Best You've Got?

**And another chapter!**

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Gibbs was not pleased. In fact, he was honestly starting to get a headache from the earful he was currently getting from Petty Officer Lucy James. In between the digs at his manliness and the threats of getting his ass sued to the moon and back, Gibbs really, really needed coffee.

Finally, it became too much for him. "Damn it, Petty Officer," he roared at a volume to rival hers as he slammed his hand down on the table. "Will you shut the hell up and just answer the questions? You're not under arrest! Just answer the goddamned questions!"

Petty Officer James fell silent. She was a tall woman, only a bit shorter than Gibbs, with long, white-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

"What do you want, _sir_?" she asked forcefully.

"I want to know where you were at 21:30 last night," Gibbs growled, his ears still ringing from her tirade.

"Out with some friends, we went out to a bar off base," she said coldly, examining her fingernails.

"Is there anyone who can attest to that?" Gibbs asked, pleased to finally be getting somewhere.

"My boyfriend. Petty Officer Bryant Hadlund," said Petty Officer James.

"Petty Officer Hadlund is dead," Gibbs barked. "Shot twice in the chest last night. Is there _anyone else_ who can verify your whereabouts?"

Petty Officer James' eyes welled with tears. "He's… dead…?"

"Killed last night between 21:30 and 01:35," Gibbs said. "I'm going to ask you again. Who else can prove to me that you were out?"

"P-petty Officer… Jessica Soderland," she replied, lip quivering slightly.

"Thank you, Petty Officer," Gibbs said. "You're free to go. And," he added as an afterthought, "give me a call if you think of something." He laid his card on the table and led her out of the Interrogation room.

Behind the window, McGee turned slowly to Ziva and Tony.

"This means… both Petty Officer James and the wife were with Hadlund last night."

"They've both got motive and opportunity," supplied Ziva.

"So… what's the catch?" finished McGee.

There was a long pause, and then Tony turned on him. "Really, McGee? 'What's the catch?' Can you _really_ not think of any other epic-sounding phrase to say? We set you up so perfectly and you finished so _lamely_…" he trailed off into mutters as he left the small room, leaving McGee and Ziva with raised eyebrows.

"If it is any consolation, I thought it made you sound dashing," Ziva said with a hint of a grin, patting a confused-looking McGee on the back as she followed Tony out the door.

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**I _always _think McGee sounds dashing. ;)  
Go ahead. Review. Make my day. :D  
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	10. Business As Usual

"What do we got, Abs?" barked Gibbs as he walked into the forensics lab, holding a Caf-Pow. He dangled it in front of Abby's face.

"Not what we expected, Gibbs," Abby answered. "I ran tests on the clothes and I picked up an unidentified print."

"Get a match?" prompted Gibbs, holding the Caf-Pow just out of her reach.

"Not yet, I'm still running the print through AFIS," Abby said. Gibbs turned to leave, holding the Caf-Pow.

"Wait, Gibbs, I'm not done!" said Abby, causing her silver-haired fox to turn in his tracks. "I also found a long hair on the shirt under his sweatshirt. It's black, Gibbs."

"Both the wife and the girlfriend are blonde," Gibbs said in realization.

"There was definitely some other female in Petty Officer Hadlund's life," Abby said.

"That's good work, Abs," grinned Gibbs as he set the Caf-Pow on her evidence table. She smiled and snatched it up, taking a comforting sip.

-

Down in the bullpen, McGee was celebrating just as Gibbs walked briskly in.

"Got a hit on Hadlund's home phone records, Boss," he said. "The petty officer received three calls from the same phone in the last three days. I traced the number back to a burn phone in the DC area," he finished with a smile. Gibbs just looked at him. "I…I'll find out who used it, then, Boss," McGee said uncertainly. Gibbs just sighed.

"DiNozzo, speak to me," he barked.

Tony jumped slightly. "I've located Petty Officer James' friend to this address in Norfolk," he said.

"You and David go and pick up Petty Officer Jessica Soderland," Gibbs said, motioning to Ziva.

"Dibs on driving!" yelled Tony as he and Ziva geared up as quickly as possible and staged an impromptu wrestling match for the car keys. Once Ziva had sufficiently gotten Tony in a headlock and wrested the keys from his hand in under four seconds, the two agents scuffled into the elevator and out of the building.

Gibbs sighed and grinned. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he did enjoy his team very much.


	11. Someone's Pissed

Abby sighed. Her finger hovered over the little button that would call Tim down to the lab. But she didn't exactly have a reason, and Gibbs wouldn't exactly appreciate her calling McGee down for a social call, but she wanted to talk to him. She was therefore saved when McGee himself walked through the doors.

"Timmy, what brings you here on this fine afternoon?" Abby grinned.

"Gibbs told me to come help you with Petty Officer Hadlund's hard drive," Tim explained. Granted, this wasn't entirely true, but McGee needed to know what was on that hard drive.

"Why?" Abby questioned.

"He's been receiving encrypted emails."

"Mystery. I like it," smiled Abby. She quickly checked up on the fingerprint scan and the hair DNA test, and then she and McGee began scanning the petty officer's hard drive.

It took them about 45 minutes, but they cracked the code. Seven consecutive emails from a hidden account unlocked themselves. Abby opened the first one.

"Dear Bryant…" McGee began to read out loud. His jaw dropped. Abby looked at him, the same shocked expression on her face.

They were pictures of Petty Officer Hadlund with his wife, Lauren. McGee checked the date that the emails were sent; two weeks before Lauren had said she and Hadlund had had contact again.

"The wife lied," McGee said, looking troubled.

"And someone was blackmailing Hadlund," Abby finished. "Whoever sent these must have known they were still together."

"And someone's not pleased," McGee said. "Thanks, Abs," he nodded and swept out of the lab.

"Bye," Abby sighed, waving half-heartedly at McGee's retreating back. _Not again…_ she groaned internally.

--

"He's dead?" said Petty Officer Jessica Soderland. She was a petite woman, with sharp features and curly red hair.

"You do not seem too chopped up about it," Ziva said, cocking an eyebrow.

"I believe the term is broken up, Zee-vah," Tony hissed under his breath. The three of them were at the Petty Officer's house just outside of Norfolk.

Ziva waved away her misuse of idioms with a hand motion and continued. "You did not like him?"

"He was… not a good match for Lucy," said Jessica, obviously choosing her words carefully. Ziva noticed this and motioned for her to continue.

"He was… a bit of a jerk, to be honest," Jessica sighed. "Sometimes he'd be sweet, but only when she prompted it. She would have to take all the initiatives, he would never be the first one to call, though he'd always call back in good time. When it was just the three of us, or just them in private, he'd open up, but around other people he'd act like he didn't know her."

"The petty officer was married, did you know that?" Tony said. Jessica looked at him sharply.

"No, I didn't, but that doesn't surprise me. Actually, it explains a lot, like how he'd never introduce her to his family and friends, and would balk every time she mentioned marriage. They'd been dating for almost two years," Jessica explained.

"He and the wife were estranged," Ziva explained. "They had no contact until recently."

"Figures," muttered Jessica.

"And you and Lucy James are very close, correct?" Ziva asked.

"Closer than sisters," Jessica said firmly.

"Can you confirm where Lucy James was last night at 21:30?" Tony asked.

"She was with Bryant and I and a few friends. We were out drinking. Why? Is she a suspect?"

"We are just talking to anyone who might have had a connection with Hadlund," Ziva said hastily. "Thank you for your time, petty officer."

"No problem," shrugged Jessica.


	12. Too Many Lies

Ducky looked down sadly at the dead petty officer lying on his autopsy table. Gibbs had asked him to reexamine the body for anything they might have missed.

"You were once a handsome young man, petty officer," Ducky said to the corpse. The petty officer's hair was grown out ridiculously long for a Marine, indicating that he hadn't been in the service for a while. Ducky brushed the shaggy brown locks out of the dead Marine's face and began more examinations. The two bullet shots to the chest didn't have much of a pattern and the kill shot to the heart wasn't very clean; this indicated either an amateur shooter, or someone was rather farther away than the team had initially anticipated.

"Your killer did not shoot you very cleanly, sir," Ducky explained to the dead man. "I imagine you did not die very quickly and you suffered greatly. I am dreadfully sorry, my dear boy." Hadlund's lifeless hazel eyes merely stared back.

Ducky sighed. "Don't be to worried, I promise you are in good hands. We will find out who gave you the invitation to my autopsy table." With that reassuring note, Ducky gave Gibbs a call.

"We have assumed that the shooter was an amateur, based on the sloppiness of the shots to his chest, but in my haste I forgot that even experienced shooters can be off if they are too far away," Ducky explained to Gibbs' phone.

"Meaning?" prompted Gibbs on the other end. He sounded very distracted.

"Meaning that the reason we haven't found our murder weapon may be that it was left far from the scene, and the killer did not take it with him or her."

"Thanks, Duck," Gibbs said, and Ducky could hear the smile in his voice.

Up in the bullpen, Gibbs turned to Tony. "DiNozzo! Go back to the crime scene. Expand the search 200 yards. Find that gun."

"On it, Boss," Tony said, rushing out to the car.

At that moment, Ziva turned to Gibbs and McGee. "I have just remembered something," she said. "Jessica Soderland's hair. It was red."

"Yes?" said Gibbs, silently asking her to get to the point.

"Well… her roots were black," Ziva said. "She got her hair dyed. And recently."

"McGee," Gibbs said without turning around. "Go up to Abby. Ask her to match the hair to Petty Officer Soderland. See if the print matches too."

"Got it, Boss," McGee said, rushing up to the lab.

"Ziva, Interrogation. McGee said she lied. Ask her why. I need coffee."

He and Ziva walked in opposite directions to their respective destinations.


	13. Breakthrough

Lauren Hadlund sighed. Ziva had just placed the pictures from Petty Officer Hadlund's computer in front of her.

"You had contact before you said your husband contacted you," Ziva stated, motioning to the time and date stamp at the bottom.

"I…" Lauren hesitated. "I sought him out," she admitted.

"Why did you tell us he contacted you?" Ziva asked.

"I was being _framed_!" Lauren said, her voice jumping an octave. "I didn't think…"

"And why two weeks earlier?" Ziva prompted.

"Because…" Lauren hesitated again. "Because that was when Lucy James contacted me first. She was… pregnant. And he left her. I wanted to file for divorce." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"But he talked you out of it," Ziva said, more a question than a statement.

"He… he wanted to get back together with me. It wasn't the first time he'd gotten other girls pregnant while with me, I didn't think it would be that big of a deal…"

"He was sleeping with other women, how is that not a big deal?" Ziva asked incredulously.

"I'm… infertile…" Lauren trailed off. "I've had tests done, and I didn't tell him… But he was afraid that it was he who was unable to have children… so he asked me if he could sleep with other women and see if they got pregnant…"

Ziva said nothing. Part of her was disgusted at Petty Officer Hadlund's dating habits, and the other part of her wanted to cry for Lauren. She couldn't imagine watching the man she loved father other women's children. Lauren noticed the look on her face.

"It was hard… watching him try to prove to himself that he was still able to have children… But he always would ask the woman if he could keep the child. Often, she would say yes. He and I would become their legal guardians, I raised those children as my own…"

"Was that why you left?"

"I couldn't handle it anymore. I couldn't stand that he could be their biological father and I would never be a true mother to any of them. I felt like a failure. In each child, I could see so much of him, and none of me, and that hurt more than anything. I loved those kids more than I could have loved my own."

Ziva sighed. This was heartbreaking, but she needed to get on with the case. "Someone knew you and the petty officer were back together."

"And he got killed for it! It's my fault he's dead!" With that, Lauren Hadlund broke down. The tears she had been holding in came rushing forward. Ziva sighed, thanked her for her time, and led her out of Interrogation.

* * *

**This is a plot twist even I didn't see coming!  
If you review, I will give you a cookie and a free kitten. :)  
**


	14. A Little Bit Of Overdue Tiva

Tony strolled back into the bullpen. "Found the gun, Boss," he said, holding up an evidence bag in which lay a .40 caliber pistol.

"Good work, DiNozzo," Gibbs grunted. "Bring it up to Abby."

"Gun's clean, Boss," Tony explained. "We won't get prints off it."

Gibbs swore. "So go put it in the evidence locker."

On the way there, he ran into Ziva in the elevator. "You are coming back up with me," Ziva said, grabbing his wrist. "I just talked to Petty Officer Hadlund's wife. And there is a lot more going on than we had originally thought."

Tony raised his eyebrows. "Come with me to put this in the evidence garage and then I'll join you in your little case-breaking rampage. What'd you find?"

"Petty Officer James was pregnant," Ziva explained as the elevator descended to the evidence garage. "And the wife made contact with Hadlund first because she wanted to file for an official divorce."

"But surely she was sleeping with other men too, it's not like it's his fault for-"

"Tony, I am explaining to you what I know!" Ziva protested, but both she and Tony noticed that her usual irritated air was gone. "In the letter-"

"Abby let you read the letter? She didn't let me read the letter!"

"Tony! Will you please stop interrupting?" Ziva sighed exasperatedly. "In the letter, Lucy James told Lauren Hadlund that she was pregnant, and the baby was Petty Officer Hadlund's. She had told him that the baby was his, and he had asked her to abort it. He was not ready to become a father, and he left her.

"Lucy James explained that she did some background research on Hadlund and found that he was married. She tracked down Lauren Hadlund's mailing address and explained to her what had happened. Then, as I found out, Lauren read the letter and asked Petty Officer Hadlund for a divorce, but he was interested in getting her back. "

Tony interrupted her again. "That's not really that unusual, Zee-vah," he said. "Husband gets another girl pregnant, doesn't want the wife to find out and refuses to father the child, and to get out of it, goes back to his wife?"

"There is a grasp," Ziva said.

"Catch," Tony corrected. "What's the catch?"

"The wife was infertile. Hadlund asked her permission to go and sleep with other women. If they got pregnant, he would ask to keep the children. He and his wife would raise the children and the other women would be out of his life."

Tony's eyebrows raised. "So… when he asked Petty Officer James to abort it…"

"Lauren Hadlund got upset. She had thought it was going to be the same, that he would come back to her and they would raise that child too. But he lied to Petty Officer James about not being ready to be a father, and Lauren didn't like that he had lied," Ziva finished.

There was a long pause.

"I'm confused, Zee-vah," Tony said. "Are we trying to get the wife off the hook, or incriminate her?"

"We are trying to find out the truth, Tony," Ziva said softly. She became acutely aware that while they'd been talking, the elevator had already stopped at the evidence locker, and they were standing far closer than Gibbs would ever allow. Tony's face was less than a centimeter from hers. Ziva gave him a challenging look and pressed the 'door open' button on the elevator. She plucked the evidence bag from Tony's hand, turned on her heel, and went to deposit it in the evidence box.

Tony watched her go, running a hand through his hair. He didn't know how, but that conversation had just sparked a world of sexual tension, and it was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He shook his head slightly and blinked a few times.

This was going to get interesting.

* * *

**Ze plot thickens!  
**


	15. Wait, What?

McGee walked into Abby's lab.

"You are just in time, Timmy," Abby said excitedly. "The hair and fingerprints? We have a match. Both belong to the same person."

"Petty Officer Jessica Soderland," Tim said.

"You know, I thought only Gibbs could do that," Abby said, looking slightly concerned. "But there was something funny about the hair. It was covered in-"

"Red hair dye," McGee finished. Abby furrowed her brow and walked over to McGee. She began circling him like a vulture, examining him closely. She rapped a knuckle on the side of his head and called into his ear, "Gibbs, are you in there?"

"I'm right here, Abs, what do you got?" said a voice from behind them.

"Oh, hey, Boss," McGee said.

"Gibbs! Both the hair and the print match Petty Officer Jessica Soderland! Though I'm sure you already knew that, considering Tim knew that, and if Tim knew that you probably knew that, and-"

"That's good work, Abs," Gibbs smiled, placing two Caf-Pows on the desk for her before turning and leaving.

Abby and McGee turned to look at each other.

"Two Caf-Pows? He's definitely in a good mood," McGee grinned.

"He tends to get like that when he's about to solve a case," Abby said matter-of-factly, picking one up.

"So what do you do after you've processed all the evidence and we're off apprehending criminals?" McGee asked idly, sitting in one of Abby's spinny chairs and spinning himself around.

"Sometimes I stay in here and play Tetris," Abby said. "Sometimes I go down and hang out with Ducky and Palmer in autopsy, considering they're not generally doing anything either. And Ducky always has good stories to tell."

"You should come down and watch the interrogation sometime," McGee said, getting up from the spinny chair and walking over to the computer to watch her play Tetris. "As sad as it sometimes is for some people, it usually can be fun watching Gibbs crack someone."

"That sounds exciting, in a sadistic sort of way," Abby said. "On the one hand you've got the Wrath Of The Fox bearing down on an unsuspecting rat, but then again, it's a rat, it deserves to be eaten."

McGee looked a little sick. "I've never heard it put quite that way before, Abby," he grinned.

"It's part of my charm," she said happily.

"And charming you are," McGee said, a smile in his voice.

Abby didn't know what exactly came over her, but she paused the game, took a deep break, turned around, and kissed him full on the lips. The kiss lasted only a second or two, but for both of them, it seemed like hours.

Abby broke it off abruptly. "I'm so sorry, Timmy," she said, pushing him aside and leaving the lab, tears falling down her cheeks.

Tim didn't move; he merely raised a finger to his lips as he stared in shock. _What was that all about?

* * *

_

**Gotta love cliffhangers!  
****If you review, I'll invite you to McAbby's wedding. XD**_  
_


	16. Finally, A Confession

Gibbs had put Lucy James in one interrogation room and Jessica Soderland in the other. Both Petty Officers were scowling.

Tony entered Petty Officer James' room with a folder.

"Lauren Hadlund told us you asked to talk to her the morning that Petty Officer Hadlund was killed."

"That's true," confirmed Lucy.

"What did you talk about?"

"We met for coffee. I elaborated on what I'd said in the letter. She listened."

"Did she say anything back?"

"She explained what their life had been like before they divorced. Seemed surprised he didn't want to take the child."

"Did you know that she had already gotten back together with him when the two of you talked?"

"No."

Tony stood up. "Thank you, Petty Officer."

He left the room and ran into Ziva. "What is it, Zee-vah?"

"Do you think that it is a bit odd that two women who claim to be closer than sisters would not tell each other important things?"

Tony's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Petty Officer Soderland said that she did not know Hadlund was married. Petty Officer James did. Why would a woman not tell her best friend that her boyfriend was married?"

Tony's eyes widened. "Thanks," he said, then turned and went back into the room.

-

Gibbs sat across from Petty Officer Soderland.

"You knew that Petty Officer Hadlund was married."

Jessica Soderland said nothing but her eyes dared Gibbs to continue.

"When Lucy James found out that her boyfriend had a wife, you would have been the first one she told. You knew that Lucy James had tracked down the name of his wife. You did your own background research. Found out that she and Hadlund were back together."

"No-"

"You showed those pictures to Lucy. And then you emailed them to Petty Officer Hadlund. He knew you were onto him. You confronted him hours before he died."

"No!"

"We found your hair beneath his sweatshirt!" Gibbs said loudly. "People don't wear sweatshirts in bars! You confronted him in person. You told him that he needed to tell Lucy the truth, but you didn't bother to tell him that she already knew. So when he left the bar, he put his sweatshirt back on because it was cold. You and Lucy decided to follow him. When he met up with his wife, Lucy lost it. She pulled out her service weapon and shot at Lauren Hadlund. But she didn't intend on Petty Officer Hadlund taking the other blows."

"You can't prove that!" screamed Jessica.

"We found her weapon in the woods where you two were hiding!" Gibbs yelled.

-

"Of course, you couldn't have Lauren Hadlund find out what you and Jessica had done," explained Tony to Lucy James. "So you told Jessica to go and knock her out with the side of the gun. You pulled the bullets out of Petty Officer Hadlund's chest with the wife's fingers. You cleaned Lucy James' gun and left it in the woods, hoping we wouldn't be able to trace it back to you. But we found the bullets," Tony placed the two bullets on the interrogation table, "in your apartment. Blood matches Petty Officer Hadlund's and the bullets match the gun we found."

Lucy James looked sadly at the bullets.

"I didn't want him to die," she said softly, a tear coursing down her cheek. "I only wanted to scare them… I wanted to miss the wife on purpose, I didn't want him to step in front of it…"

Lucy James broke down.

-

Gibbs replayed the tape of Petty Officer James' confession to Jessica Soderland.

"I was only try to protect her…" sighed Jessica as she stood up and Gibbs slapped cuffs around her wrists. He led her out to stand beside her sobbing friend in the hallway.


	17. This Can Only End In Tears

Ziva had been watching both interrogations. She had gone out to Petty Officer Soderland's apartment and had been so incredibly lucky to find those bullets, because without them, Tony's elaboration probably wouldn't have been enough grounds to make either woman confess.

_It is unfortunate when jealousy gets in the way of love,_ Ziva thought sadly. Suddenly, she thought of Abby.

She went up to Abby's lab and was surprised to hear a quiet sobbing.

"Abby…?" she asked uncertainly.

"Go 'way," came a small muffled voice from underneath the desk. Ziva made a motion to walk through the door but was surprised to find it locked.

"Abby…"

"I don' wanna talk to you, Tim," she said loudly. "Go 'way."

"Abby, it is Ziva," Ziva said loudly. She banged on the glass for effect. "What is going on?"

"Oh… hi, Ziva…" came Abby's voice. There was a quiet beep, and the door slid open. Ziva entered, and it slammed shut behind her and locked itself.

"Abby, what has happened?"

"I… I kissed him, Ziva," Abby said, breaking down into more tears. Ziva joined Abby on the floor and hugged her friend. She could only imagine the events that had transpired to make Abby this upset.

"And?"

"And I left. I ran out of the lab. I didn't get to see his face, or anything… and then Tony said he had a date with that dead petty officer's wife…"

Ziva stood up. "I will kill him," she said defiantly. Before Abby could stop her, Ziva jabbed the 'door open' button as hard as she could and stormed out of the lab.

* * *

**This can only end in tears. Probably McGee's.  
Review? :D**


	18. An NCIS Agent Walks Into A Cafe

McGee sat across from Lauren Hadlund in the small restaurant. He played nervously with his napkin as they waited for their food to be served. Lauren shot him a shy, rather sheepish smile.

"You're kind of quiet," she said. It wasn't accusatory, it wasn't impertinent, it was merely a calm, factual statement. Tim liked this about Lauren; she was straight and to the point. _Almost like Abby is- _wait. Don't think about Abby, Tim told himself. Stop thinking about her.

Dinner passed with soft, irrelevant conversation between them. It was nice, Tim thought, to not be constantly grilled about his job for once. Lauren already knew where he worked, so he wouldn't have to hide anything from her. He in turn learned much about what she did as a chemist. _Abby would be really interested in this_, Tim thought. He then realized what his mind had just said to him and shook his head.

They shared a dessert; Lauren had wasted no time in ordering a savory devil's-food-cake. Tim loved that she wasn't afraid to eat whatever she wanted, and she still looked good. _She's like Abby in that respect._ No, not again! Tim mentally Gibbs-slapped himself. Now was not the time or place to be thinking about-

"Something on your mind?" Lauren asked uncertainly.

"Just… preoccupied by how beautiful you are," Tim smiled cheekily. _You could be as beautiful as Abby… maybe. _Lauren laughed, charmed. She held his hands over the table.

"Tim?"

"Lauren?"

"I know what love looks like." Her beautiful eyes – _Abby's eyes_, Tim thought – stared imploringly into his.

"What prompts this?" He asked.

"I know what love looks like; I can see it in your eyes. I was in love with my husband for a long time. I still am. I have to move on now. You don't have to. I know you're in love with some fantastic woman, Tim."

"How can you tell?" he wanted to know. This was a little bit odd; he wasn't sure if he was being rejected or complimented.

"I just know," Lauren said, saying more with the phrase than the actual words that came out of her mouth.

"Thanks… I think?" Tim asked hesitantly.

"It is a world of a compliment, Tim," Lauren smiled at him. "Thank you so much for all you've done for me. I wish my husband could have met you."

McGee wasn't quite sure what to say. Lauren sensed this.

"What is her name, Tim?"

"Abby. Abby Sciuto."

"She sounds lovely," Lauren said, without a hint of sarcasm or regret. "Now go be with her tonight."

Tim began to protest. "But she doesn't know I love her-"

"So tell her. Tell her while you have the chance. Say to her what every lover needs to hear, because they might not live to hear it again," Lauren implored him.

Tim closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "Thank you," he said to the short blonde woman who had, in just a few days, gone from client to love interest to friend. He gave her a hug, which she returned.

"Now go get 'em, tiger!" Lauren smiled, kissing Tim's cheek and shooing him along.

"Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly.

"Of course I'm sure. And if I'm not sure, I'll know where to find you," she grinned. "Good night!"

"Thanks, Lauren," McGee smiled warmly at her before going to his car.

* * *

**SO. MUCH. CHEESE.  
On the plus side, we've got us some LONG OVERDUE MCABBY ON THE WAY!  
Reviews make the heart grow fonder. :)**


	19. Evidently

Tim drove like a madman back to NCIS. After a few Ziva-worthy maneuvers and twists, his car skidded to a stop in the building's parking lot. He got out of the car just as Ziva was exiting the front doors.

"Ziva, do you know if-"

"How dare you?" Ziva asked angrily, closing the distance between them by grabbing a fistful of Tim's shirt threateningly. "How dare you lead Abby on in such a way-"

"Ziva," McGee tried to protest. She responded by bringing her fist up to his neck, constricting his vocal chords.

"You kiss Abby, and then you just happen to have a date with another woman? You could not have bothered to tell her-"

"Ziva!" warned Tim, daring to grab the wrist that was blocking his breathing. Ziva actually growled.

"You need to let me explain."

Ziva stood back, arms crossed and eyebrows raised disdainfully.

"Yes, I did make plans with Lauren, and yes, it was after Abby's and my… _incident_ this morning, but that's not the way it is."

"That is certainly how it appears," scoffed Ziva, still icy.

"I love Abby," McGee sighed. "I've loved her since she left me. But she left me. Even I'm not desperate enough to go after a woman who won't have me. I've been dating other women, but none of them ever add up to her. Tonight, Lauren showed me that. She told me to tell Abby I loved her, before it was too late. I don't ever want it to be too late, Ziva."

Ziva just stared. "Oh," she finally managed to say. "Well, then, by all means, venture forth into that building."

McGee smiled and nodded in her direction before scurrying off to find Abby.

...

Abby was in the Evidence Garage, sorting the various crap they'd used in the Hadlund case into piles of recycling or trash. This was the part she liked least about her job, but as Forensic Specialist, it was her duty to get rid of all the excess forensic evidence.

Two very McGee-ish arms wrapped themselves around her stomach; she recognized his watch right away.

"Tim?"

His only response was to bury his face into her spider-tattooed neck.

"Timmy, are you okay?" Abby asked, a little weirded out but not altogether displeased.

"Abby, I love you, I love everything about you," murmured McGee into her skin.

"Are you drunk? Because if you're drunk, I can get you a ride home-"

"I am more sober than a squirrel," McGee said seriously. It was all Abby could do to stop herself from giggling. His hands moved to her waist and spun her around so that she faced him. "I know exactly what I am saying, and I won't regret it in the morning. Abigail Sciuto, I am in love with you."

Abby didn't know what to say. The commitment-phobic part of her was writhing a little bit, but the much stronger and much smarter part of her was cheering. She blushed a little bit. "I don't know what to say, Tim."

"You don't need to say anything. I just need you to know how much I love you." McGee took both of her hands in his. "I need you to understand."

Abby gazed into his eyes. This was really not the situation in which she'd imagined herself in this moment. She'd always expected it to be over dinner or in bed or even in her lab, but not in the middle of the Evidence Garage when she was tired and covered in sweat and tears and who knew what else. But with Tim looking at her like that, she felt like the most beautiful woman on earth.

"I… I understand," she said in a small, wondrous voice. McGee's face visibly relaxed. Abby blushed again. "Is… is this where we kiss?"

"Yes, yes, I think so," said McGee, obviously very relieved that this was going so well. He closed the distance between them. One hand dropped to the small of Abby's back, and the other held her upturned chin. He carefully lowered his lips to hers. This wasn't like their hasty, embarrassed kiss in Abby's lab. This kiss was soft and hesitant, but at the same time full of so much passion and love that Abby felt her knees going a little bit weak.

This was everything she wanted.

* * *

_Fin_

_

* * *

_**And so we go.  
**

**Thank you all for sticking to this story and making it to the end! Reviews are fantastic, as per usual. Love, Starry  
**


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